An 87-year-old British woman in Thailand said she regrets moving to the country to be closer to her family as she struggles to live on her “frozen” UK state pension of just £300 a month.
Christine Gloria Fox lives on the east coast of Thailand near Pattaya, “an expensive area” where the beaches are filled with tourists all year round, she said.
But Ms Fox has not been able to enjoy her golden years in the popular beach resort, because every penny of her UK state pension “goes directly to the doctors”.
Her state pension has been frozen at that amount ever since she moved to Thailand 24 years ago, as it does not rise annually as a result of the triple lock system.
She is desperate to return to the UK, but she has been deemed unfit to fly due to her ill health. And with little money to live on, she has to rely on her son, Jon Fox, 63, in order to cover costs.
Mr Fox has built a studio apartment behind his office at his car rental business for his mother as she is too frail to live on her own.
“She’s taken too many tumbles,” he told i. “She can’t walk, she falls over, she has problems with everything due to getting older and older.
“She can’t see as well, she’s blind as a bat, we’re trying to get money together for an [eye] operation that costs between £5,000 and £6,000.
“She wanted to go home [to the UK] many times but doctors won’t give her a fit-to-fly certificate.
“That’s why she stayed here all these years because she can’t go anywhere else.”
Mr Fox said he and his daughter pay for Ms Fox’s utility bills and food, which comes to at least double the £300 she receives in state pension, her only income. “That’s just for necessities, not for anything like buying a handbag,” he added.
“We’ve had it tough too,” he said of his family, saying the Covid-19 pandemic “was very tough” for his business. Mr Fox moved to Thailand 35 years ago, and lives with his wife and six children.
“We got a business but we don’t know what we’re going to finish up with at the end of the month,” he said. “Of course, we want the best for her… but it is a burden on me and my daughter.”
About 500,000 British citizens living abroad outside Europe do not benefit from the state pension increases those living in the UK receive via the triple lock, which means payments rise each year by whichever is highest out of wage growth, inflation or 2.5 per cent.
British retirees in countries where the UK has a reciprocal social security agreement that covers uprating do see their pensions increase in line with the triple lock, but the list excludes Australia, Canada and many other countries, including Thailand.
It makes Ms Fox “very angry”, her son said, adding that she paid into the tax system when she lived in Lincolnshire, where she worked on the family farm.
“She regrets moving to Thailand,” Mr Fox said. “If she knew it was going to be like this, she would’ve stayed [in the UK], without a doubt. She’s not happy here.”
The Department for Work and Pensions said it provides information on its website about how moving abroad can affect people’s finances.
